


Kitten Socks

by sky_blue_hightops



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (ps theres a lot), Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Fluff, Gen, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, No Apocalypse, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Sharing Clothes, brought to you by the list of tropes im a massive sucker for, this is just one of the greats, we all have different coping mechanisms and in this fic five has an especially adorable one fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-12 23:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18020837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_blue_hightops/pseuds/sky_blue_hightops
Summary: Klaus's lost his favorite pair of socks (again) (Ben shut up) and finds them in an unexpected place.





	Kitten Socks

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [there is simply nothing worse than knowing how it ends](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18003845) by [Drhair76](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drhair76/pseuds/Drhair76). 



> i'm pretty sure ive recently read a fic with a similar premise and it's buried in my bookmarks somewhere? it was so good and ill link it when i find it,,,, _you all should go read it_
> 
> anyways i love this trope a lot and i love writing these boys a lot
> 
> ~~edit: i found and reread it and tbh the premise is very similar i hope thats okay ;-;~~

It wasn't really a big deal until one day Klaus dug around in his sock drawer and there were no socks to speak of.

He sat back on his ankles, confused. He could've _sworn_ he had that one pair with the kittens left, his favorite pair - they went up to his knees and everything! And they were so soft, and the prettiest light blue...

He shut the drawer with a pout, straightening to look around the room. Where  _else_ would they be... He bounced over to his closet and pawed amongst the pile of dirty laundry huddled there in the corner - nope. No sign of 'em anywhere. Anywhere! "Bennnnn I can't find my sooooock _sssss_ ," he whined. "And my feet are cold!"

Ben looked entirely too amused at Klaus's predicament, arms crossed and perched in Klaus's chair like he owned the place. Klaus wondered if he _should_ let Ben own the place...less stuff would go missing, probably. Ben always had had the cleanest rooms out of all of the siblings, while Klaus couldn't remember the last time he had seen his closet floor. It was a work in progress, okay! Last week he said he would clean it  _this_ week, and this week he'll say he'll clean it  _next_ week, and...

Ben snapped him out of his thoughts. "Did you check the washer? The dryer? Maybe Mom forgot to put them away."

Klaus lit up, hope restored. "Yes, thank you, dearest brother-!" The end of his sentence was lost as he flounced out of the room. Ben shook his head, but a smile lingered nonetheless.

***

Klaus groaned and threw himself over the back of the couch quick enough to make his unsuspecting victim (this time, Diego) jump. "Ugh I can't find them anywhere! Diego this is an  _injustice_ , you hear me, this is a  _personal attack_ on my comfort and sense of fashion as an individual!"

Diego let out the breath he had been holding, shifting his attention back to his book and humming in sympathy. "You lose something again?"

Klaus frowned from where he was bent backwards over the couch, blood rushing to his head. "Yeah, y'know the socks with the little kitties? I've been looking for  _ages_ -"

"Ten minutes?"

"Shoosh. Anyways I've checked  _everywhere_ and I can't  _find them_ \- ooooh what are you reading?" He flipped around to slide onto the couch seat next to Diego, tucking himself into his brother's side to peer at the pages. 

"Nothing..." Diego muttered, distracted. "Why don't you go keep looking, I gotta focus." He patted Klaus's head absentmindedly, who of course instantly leaned into the touch.

Klaus grumbled, sighing. "Aw, fine. I'll let you know when I find them!"

Diego hid a wince at the vivid image of Klaus dashing down the stairs, socks in hand, shouting in victory at the top of his lungs. "You do that."

***

"I literally don't understand. I literally. Do not. Understand." Klaus swung the dryer door closed. "Ben, I don't understand!"

Ben swung his feet from on top of the washer. "Yeah, I heard."

"No socks!" He gestured in a way that perfectly conveyed the intense urgency of said gesturing but nothing about the meaning of the gesture itself. This was a tragedy in three parts. What if... A chill ran down his spine. A horrible thought occurred to him. "What if I don't find them?!"

Ben swung his left foot in what would've been a satisfyingly hard kick had his foot not passed through the washer. "I'm sure they're around here. You just...haven't looked hard enough?" Ah, the age-old placating statement. Klaus would've felt offended but that meant Ben was just as stumped as he, and that was more of a reassurance than anything.

"Ughhhh. Back to my room?"

Ben patted Klaus's head comfortingly in a mirror of Diego's earlier gesture. His hand passed through. "Maybe you didn't look hard enough under your bed?"

***

Half and hour later and many, many muttered curses found Klaus seated in the middle of his room, surrounded by haphazardly-strewn clothes and disappointment. "And I thought the  _socks_ were bad!"

"Maybe they...all....disappeared in the wash?" Ben sounded extremely uncertain.

"Oh, yeah, two hoodies, four shirts, three pairs of socks - not including the kitty pair! - and a skirt  _all_ disappeared in the wash. Yep. That definitely happened." Klaus shot an incredulous look in his brother's direction, tone disbelieving. "I thought  _you_ were supposed to be the smart one of the two of us."

Ben shrugged. "I'm dead, not omniscient."

"Psh. You know what you aren't right now? Helpful. Now I have  _eleven_ pieces of clothing missing. Where could that much fabric even go in this house that I haven't checked?"

"...the basement?"

Klaus considered Ben carefully. "You make a sucky Watson, I hope you know that."

Ben raised an eyebrow right back. "And you're any better at playing Sherlock?"

"Touché." He sighed. "I guess I'll just ask after my socks and hope the rest turns up with them....who's left in the house...?" He mumbled names. "Allison is off at therapy, Luther's grocery shopping, Vanya....I dunno, but probably making sure Luther buys anything besides health-food crap....oh!" He grinned. "Lil' baby brother's still in the house!"

Ben looked incredibly conflicted. Klaus would've given it a second thought if he thought Ben had it in him to lie to him. "Maybe you shouldn't bother him-"

"No, no, that's a great idea. Perfect, actually! Thanks Ben, you're really on a roll with all these wonderful ideas-!" Aaaand he was off again. Ben swore if he sighed any harder he'd actually leave this plane of existence. Again.

***

"-FiveFiveFiveFive dear ol' buddy Five have _youuu_ seen my socks-?" He pushed Five's cracked door open all the way, mouth still open and several more 'Five's on his tongue, but he stopped short. "Are those-"

Five whirled around from where he was bent over his desk, chalk clutched in one hand and notebook in the other. His extremely grumpy 'I'm doing math kindly remove yourself from my room' face was ruined when he sneezed from the chalk dust. "Klaus, for the  _last fuc_ -"

"Language!"

"- _ing time,_ what do you  _want_. This is the  _fourth time_ you've barged into my room in the past two hours. If I want to see another dog that passed on the sidewalk below your window,  _I'll let you know_." The entire statement was made through teeth gritted so hard Klaus was vaguely worried Five'd break his jaw. But! Klaus's priorities lay elsewhere - namely, his  _socks oh my gosh he found them!!! He found the socks!!!_ Just...not exactly where he'd expected to.

"...Would you kill me if I asked you why you're wearing my socks?"

Five glanced down at his feet, where the blue kitten-patterned fabric pooled at his ankles. "Yes."

"Oka- hey wait a minute is that my hoodie?" He crossed Five's room before Five could teleport away, grabbing the boy's arm gently and bringing it up to sniff the soft hoodie fabric. "Yep, that's mine- hold on just a second are those Vanya's sweatpants?" He gasped dramatically, eyes wide. "Are  _you_ where my two hoodies, four shirts, four pairs of socks, and skirt have disappeared to?" He shook an accusatory finger in Five's direction. "Clothes stealer!"

Five looked like he was trying very hard to not snap someone's neck. Or strangle someone with the excess material of his sleeves, that's how big the hoodie was on him. "And? What about it?"

Klaus pulled Five in for a bone-crushing hug before the smaller could react. Five definitely did  _not_ squeak in alarm. "Aww! You could just ask, I've got a bunch of old clothes I could give you-"

"It's..." Five's brow scrunched in frustration as he pulled away, face pink with embarrassment? "It's...not the same."

"The same?" Klaus echoed, still holding Five's wrist so the lil' bugger couldn't teleport himself away from any situation he didn't like, as per usual.

"It's stupid. I'll give your clothes back. Sorry for taking them." Five was already turning away from Klaus, but Klaus's grip didn't lighten.

"I'll be the judge of that."

Five turned back, confused. "What?"

"You said it's stupid, I say I'll be the judge of whether it is or not!" Klaus booped him on the nose. It was very effective. He couldn't tell if Five's lips were twitching from hiding a smile or restraining homicidal urges. 

Five exhaled loudly, tugging at his hoodie sleeves. "Sometimes I can't sleep, or have a nightmare. I see fire in the corners of my vision, all I can smell is smoke, you know, all the _good_ stuff." A wry, bitter smile. "Nothing helps. Then one night - I don't know why - I teleported and I found myself in the laundry room. There was a clean load still in the dryer. I couldn't smell anything but smoke. And. Yeah." He muttered something Klaus didn't catch.

"Sorry, what did you say-"

"I said it smells like you!" Five looked surprised by his own outburst, but barged on regardless. "I take your clothes, and Vanya's pants because she's my height, and whatever else I can get my hands on, from whoever else, and so  _help_ me if you  _ever_ mention this again it'll be like you never  _existed_."

Five glared mutinously, breathing heavy. Klaus cracked a smile. "Done promising bodily harm?"

The smaller brother grimaced, tearing his wrist away. "For now."

Klaus ruffled his hair affectionately, ignoring Five's sounds of protest. "You know you can come to me if you need anything, right? Any time of the day or night, I'm just right down the hall."

"I know." He grudgingly admitted, halfheartedly attempting to fix his hair. "Now, if you don't need anything else, can I  _please_ finish what I was doing before you burst in and made me lose my train of thought?"

Klaus didn't need to be told twice, already almost out the door, before poking his head back in with a mischievous smile. "Can I have my cat socks back?"

" _ **No.**_ "


End file.
